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JAPAK 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

The  Empire  of  Japan  consists  of  three  large  islands,  con- 
taining, respectively,  not  far  from  100,000,  16,000  and  10- 
000  square  miles,  and  surrounded  by  many  smaller  islands, 
making  in  all  an  extent  of  territory  variously  estimated,  but 
probably  amounting  to  about  160,000  square  miles.  The 
population  is  dense,  numbering,  as  is  supposed,  from  30,000, 
000  to  40,000,000.  The  surface  of  the  country  is  much 
broken  by  hills  and  valleys,  but  the  soil  is  fertile  and  almost 
everywhere  well  cultivated,  producing  a good  variety  of 
grains,  vegetables,  and  fruits.  Minerals  are  abundant  — gold, 
silver,  copper,  tin,  lead,  mei-cury,  coal,  sulphur,  salt,  etc.  It 
is,  writes  Mr.  Blodget,  of  the  North  China  mission,  “ a land 
of  hills  and  valleys  and  lofty  mountains  ; a land  of  pure  air, 
clear  streams,  running  brooks  and  fountains  of  water ; a 
land  abounding  in  trees  and  flowers  of  numerous  varieties, 
and  rich  in  productions  useful  for  food,  for  man  and  beast.” 
The  civilization  of  the  Japanese,  peculiar,  but  very  consider- 
ably advanced,  is  supposed  to  be  of  Chinese  origin.  Chinese 
is  their  learned  language,  Chinese  classics  have  been  the 
text-books  in  their  schools,  and  many  Chinese  words  have 
become  incorporated  in  their  language.  The  prevailing  re- 
ligion has  been  Buddhism.  The  people  are  represented  as 
of  middling  size  ; tawny  complexion,  with  black,  glossy  hair  ; 
active,  lively,  quick  of  apprehension  ; exhibiting  more  in- 
telligence than  is  common  among  Asiatics.  Education,  to 
some  extent,  is  almost  universal,  the  poorest  and  lowest 


2 


JAPAN. 


laborers  being  taught  to  read  and  write  ; ” printers  and  book- 
sellers are  numerous,  and  the  literature  is  somewhat  exten- 
sive. Many  mechanical  arts  are  carried  to  a high  degree  of 
perfection,  and  commercial  operations  are  conducted,  some- 
times on  a very  extensive  scale,  with  promptness  and  accu- 
racy. Indeed,  the  Japanese  would  seem  to  need  nothing  but 
the  pervading  influence  of  a pure  religion,  to  give  them  a 
high  position  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

The  existence  of  such  a people  was  first  made  known  in 
Europe  by  the  Venetian,  Marco  Polo,  who  returned  from  his 
travels  in  1295.  His  statements,  however,  respecting  this  and 
other  lands,  were  generally  rejected  as  utterly  incredible,  and 
for  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  his  time  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  European  intercourse  with  the  emj^ire. 
About  the  year  1543,  Pinto,  one  of  the  many  Portuguese 
adventurers  then  crowding  to  the  East,  driven  by  a storm, 
landed  on  one  of  the  Japan  islands.  He  was  well  received, 
and  carried  to  his  countrymen  such  a report  of  the  riches  of 
the  country  as  led  many  traders  and  adventurers  there,  and 
a Portuguese  settlement  was  soon  established. 

Papal  missionaries,  if  they  did  not  at  first  accompany  the 
merchants,  followed  them  almost  immediately,  the  celebrated 
Francis  Xavier,  with  his  companions,  reaching  Japan  in 
1549.  At  this  time  there  seems  to  have  been  little  preju- 
dice or  opj)osition.  Both  merchants  and  missionaries  were 
favorably  received.  Soon  after  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  emperor  is  said  to  have  replied  to  some  of  the 
heathen  priests,  who  requested  him  to  prohibit  the  foreign 
faith,  by  asking  how  many  religions  there  were  in  the  em- 
pire. Being  told  that  there  were  thirty-five,  he  remarked  : 
“ When  thirty-five  religions  are  tolerated  we  can  easily  bear 
with  thirty-six  ; leave  the  strangers  in  peace.”  Xavier  re- 
mained two  years,  and  laborers  and  converts  rapidly  multi- 
plied around  him. 

About  thirty  years  later,  in  1582,  Japanese  Christians-, 
sent  an  embassy,  with  letters  and  presents  to  the  Pope  at 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 


3 


Rome,  and  after  their  return  converts  were  stil  more 
increased;  so  that  in  the  course  of  two  years  (1591-2)  it  is 
said  12,000  persons  were  baptized.  Persecutions,  however, 
had  already  commenced,  or  at  least  opposition,  an  edict  for 
the  banishment  of  missionaries  having  been  issued  in  1587, 
and  before  the  close  of  the  century  there  were  repeated 
cases  of  martyrdom. 

Allured  by  the  success  of  the  Portuguese,  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company  sent  out  merchant  vessels  for  Japan  in  1598, 
one  of  which  reached  there  in  1600.  Others  followed,  in 
1 609  ; and  the  same  year  a port  was  granted  to  that  com- 
pany, and  a factory,  or  trading  settlement  was  established. 
The  new  settlers  seem  to  have  had  an  eye  to  trade  alone, 
making  no  religious  demonstrations,  willing  to  renounce  even 
all  the  forms  of  Christianity  for  the  sake  of  gain.  Already 
the  Government  had  become  distrustful  of  the  Portuguese, 
whose  success  had  made  them  haughty,  arrogant,  and  incau- 
tious. Portugal  was  then  united  with  Spain,  and  a Span- 
iard being  asked  by  the  emperor  how  their  king  had  man- 
aged to  possess  himself  of  half  the  world,  is  said  to  have 
intimated,  in  reply,  that  having  first  sent  priests  to  convert 
the  people,  the  native  Christians  would  join  his  troops,  and 
conquest  was  easy.  As  might  have  been  expected,  such  a 
reply  made  a deep  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  emperor. 
The  Dutch,  at  war  with  Portugal,  and  seeking  their  own 
advantage,  were  not  likely  to  do  anything  to  allay  suspicion  ; 
difficulties,  commenced  before  their  arrival,  continued  and 
increased ; the  Christians  took  no  measures  to  pacify  the 
Government,  but  defying  it,  rather,  began  to  destroy  idols 
and  heathen  temples,  and  severe  persecutions  followed,  in 
1612  and  1614.  In  1622,  there  was  a frightful  massacre  of 
Christians  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nagasaki,  with  horrible 
tortures  inflicted  upon  many,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  make 
them  renounce  a faith  declared  to  be  infamous  and  rebel- 
lious. In  1629,  there  were  still  numbered  in  the  empii'e 
400,000  Christians,  but  twenty  years  later,  one  hundred 


4 


JAPAN. 


years  after  the  first  arrival  of  Xavier,  there  remained  none. 
Driven  to  despair,  they  were  said  to  have  entered  into  a 
conspiracy  with  the  Portuguese,  to  overthrow  the  imperial 
throne  ; by  the  close  of  1639,  the  Portuguese  were  entirely 
expelled,  and  their  trade  transferred  to  the  Dutch ; the 
native  Christians,  still  defending  themselves,  took  possession 
of  a strong  castle  in  Simabara,  but  were  at  length  over- 
powered, by  the  aid  of  Dutch  artillery  and  military  science, 
and  utterly  destroyed,  to  the  number  of  37,000,  about  the 
year  1640.  In  1641,  the  Dutch  were  ordered  to  leave  their 
position  at  Firando,  and  take  up  their  residence  on  the  little 
island  of  Desima,  in  the  port  of  Nagasaki,  where  they  were 
placed  under  rigid  inspection,  and  where,  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years,  they  retained  the  undisturbed  monopoly  of 
European  trade  with  Japan.  The  English,  and  the  Rus- 
sians, meantime,  made  several  unsuccessful  attempts  to 
establish  commercial  intercourse,  and  some  unavailing 
efforts  were  put  forth  by  Papal  missionaries  to  regain  a 
footing  in  the  empire  ; but  by  Protestants,  no  attempt  has 
been  made  to  preach  the  gospel  there  until  within  the  last 
few  years.  An  edict  was  published,  soon  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Christians,  which  has  remained  in  force  until 
very  recently,  offering  a reward  to  any  who  should  inform 
against  Christians,  if  there  were  such  still  undiscovered 
(about  $500  to  “ whoever  informs  on  a padre,”  and  $300  to 
“whoever  informs  on  a Roman  ”).  From  that  time  to  very 
near  the  present  the  most  hitter  hostility  to  Christianity  has 
been  cherished,  and  it  has  been  a capital  crime  to  become  a 
disciple  of  Christ. 

Within  a few  years,  efforts  on  the  part  of  Christian 
nations  to  overcome  the  long-continued  exclusiveness  of 
Japan,  and  establish  diplomatic  and  commercial  relations 
with  the  empire,  have  been  more  earnestly  prosecuted,  and 
crowned,  at  last,  with  success.  In  1846,  an  expedition  from 
the  United  States  was  conducted  by  Commodore  Biddle, 
designed,  if  possible,  to  open  friendly  negotiations ; but  it 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 


5 


accomplished  nothing.  In  1849,  Captain  Glynn,  of  the 
United  States  ship  Preble,  rescued  from  Japan  some  ship- 
wrecked American  seamen,  who  had  been  imprisoned  nearly 
seventeen  months  and  treated  with  great  severity ; but  he 
was  not  permitted  to  remain,  or  to  communicate  with  the 
people.  In  1852,  the  United  States  Government  dispatched 
an  expedition  under  command  of  Commodore  Perry,  who 
was  instructed  to  demand  protection  for  American  seamen 
and  ships  wrecked  on  the  coast,  and  if  possible  to  conclude 
a treaty  by  which  American  vessels  should  be  permitted  to 
enter  at  least  one  port,  to  obtain  supplies  and  for  purposes 
of  trade.  Perry  entered  the  bay  of  Yedo,  and  after  much 
difficult  negotiation,  succeeded  in  delivering  to  high  officials 
a letter  addressed  to  the  Emperor  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  In  February,  1854,  he  entered  the  same 
bay  again,  with  a squadron  of  seven  ships  of  war,  and  came 
to  anchor  a few  miles  from  the  capital;  and  on  the  31st  of 
March,  a treaty  was  agreed  upon.  Simoda  and  Hakodadi 
were  designated  as  ports  which  American  ships  might  visit 
to  obtain  supplies,  arrangements  were  made  for  the  residence 
of  United  States  consuls  at  those  ports,  protection  and 
assistance  were  guaranteed  to  shipwrecked  seamen,  and 
liberty  to  trade,  under  certain  restrictions,  was  granted. 
Treaties  with  other  nations,  and  further  concessions,  soon 
followed.  An  English  squadron  entered  the  harbor  of 
Nagasaki  in  September  of  the  same  year,  and  a treaty  was 
concluded  with  Great  Britain  by  which  that  port  and  Hako- 
dadi were  opened  to  British  commerce.  The  Russians  soon 
obtained  like  privileges,  and  in  November,  1855,  the  Dutch 
secured  relief  from  most  of  the  restrictions  so  long  imposed 
upon  them.  In  June,  1857,  Mr.  Townsend  Harris,  United 
States  consul-general  for  Japan,  negotiated  a new  treaty  at 
Simoda,  by  which  additional  privileges  were  secured  to 
American  merchants,  and  after  July  4,  1858,  Americans 
were  permitted  to  resident  Simoda  and  Hakodadi.  In  1858, 
he  succeeded  in  reaching  Yedo,  and  concluded  a still  more 


6 


JAPAN. 


favorable  treaty,  making  provision  for  opening  the  ports  of 
Kanagawa  (a  suburb  of  Yedo,  substituted  for  Simoda), 
Nagasaki,  and  Hakodadi  to  general  trade,  within  one  year, 
and  of  Hiogo,  the  harbor  of  a most  important  commercial 
city,  Osaka,  in  1860;  and  for  the  residence  of  an  American 
ambassador  at  Yedo. 

It  is  worthy  of  grateful  mention,  that  in  the  instructions 
given  to  Mr.  Harris  by  Mr.  Marcy,  the  United  States  Sec- 
retary of  State,  he  was  directed  to  do  his  best,  by  all  judi- 
cious measures,  to  obtain  full  toleration  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  protection  for  missionaries  who  might  go  there 
to  promulgate  this  religion.  Mr.  Harris’s  own  desires  were 
fully  in  accordance  with  such  instructions,  and  the  treaty  did 
provide  for  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  by  Americans 
in  Japan,  with  liberty  to  erect  places  of  worship.  The 
Japanese  commissioners,  in  accordance  with  the  long-con- 
tinued policy  of  the  empire,  attempted  to  place  Christianity 
and  Christian  teaching  among  the  forbidden  articles  of  im- 
portation ; but  all  such  propositions  were  repelled  with  firm- 
ness, and  were  consequently  withdrawn.  The  custom  of 
trampling  on  the  cross  was  to  be  abolished,  but  no  liberty 
was  secured  for  the  Japanese  to  embrace  Christianity,  or  for 
foreigners  to  propagate  its  doctrines.  Indeed,  it  was  ex- 
pressly stipulated,  that  nothing  should  be  done  “ calculated 
to  excite  religious  animosity.”  Within  the-  same  year  a 
British  ambassador,  the  Earl  of  Elgin,  was  conveyed  to 
Yedo,  and  concluded  a new  treaty,  based  on  that  negotiated 
by  Mr.  Harris,  but  securing  some  additional  concessions. 

Protestant  Missionary  Efforts. 

By  these  treaties,  and  others  with  Christian  nations,  great 
progress  was  made  towards  the  full  opening  of  Japan  for 
intercourse  with  other  lands,  and  apparently  for  the  re-intro- 
duction of  Christianity.  Yet  the  hopes  and  expectations 
which  were  thus  excited,  were  not  all  warranted  even  by  the 
treaty  stipulations  ; and  certainly  not  by  the  past  history  of 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS. 


1 


Japan,  the  known  aversion  to  intercourse  with  foreigners, 
the  bitter,  long-continued  hostility  to  Christianity,  or  the 
peculiar  and  not  well  understood  character  of  the  Govern- 
ment, — the  relations  of  the  two  Emperors,  as  they  were 
sometimes  called,  the  civil  (Tycoon)  and  the  spiritual  (JNE- 
kado),  to  each  other,  and  of  the  many  hereditary  princes, 
sovei’eigns  to  a great  extent,  within  their  own  dominions, 
to  the  supreme  authority.  A prominent  clergyman  in  the 
United  States  remarked,  in  an  address  delivered  in  Febru- 
ary, 1859,  and  subsequently  published:  “Mr.  Harris  has 
expressly  secured  the  right  of  Christian  teaching,  and  of 
building  Christian  churches  in  Japan,  which  shall  be  unmo- 
lested and  protected  ; and  by  his  eminently  wise  and  suc- 
cessful services  as  a negotiator,  American  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity is  to  enjoy  unlimited  freedom  of  establishment  and 
propagation  in  this  new  and  wonderful  field.”  The  state- 
ment is  quoted  only  to  show  how  glowing  were  the  antici- 
pations too  readily  indulged  by  manJ^  No  such  “ unlimited 
freedom  of  propagation ’’had  been  secured  for  the  Protestant 
or  any  other  form  of  Chi’istianity.  In  the  good  providence 
of  God,  however,  great  changes  had  been  effected,  and 
there  was  reason  for  the  hope  that  others  would  follow  in 
due  time.  Christian  missionai’ies  could  enter  the  empire,  as 
citizens  of  other  nations,  and  reside  at  some  designated 
places  ; could  study  the  language,  and  thus  be  preparing 
themselves  for  future  labors ; and  might  find  the  way  open- 
ing before  them  more  and  more  fully.  Accordingly,  several 
missionary  societies  in  the  United  States  at  once  turned 
their  attention  to  the  new  field. 

In  February,  1858,  Dr.  Boone  (missionary  Bishop  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  to 
China),  then  in  this  country,  sent  for  publication  in  the 
“ Spirit  of  Missions,”  a letter  from  an  officer  in  the  United 
States  Navy,  dated  at  Hakodadi,  Japan,  October  2,  1857, 
which  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  time  had  come  for 
sending  missionaries — prudent  men,  of  tried  experience  — 


8 


JAPAN. 


who  “ must  remember  that  it  is  death  to  a Japanese  to  be- 
come a Christian,”  and  must  not  “ rush  headlong  into  the 
work,  without  considering  secondary  means ; ” but  who,  if 
judicious,  would  probably  “ meet  with  as  much  encourage- 
ment as  they  generally  do  when  first  commencing  operations 
in  heathen  lands.”  On  the  14th  of  February,  1859,  the 
Foreign  Committee  of  the  Episcopal  Board  of  Missions 
formally  determined  to  enter  upon  work  in  Japan,  and  ap- 
pointed Rev.  Messrs.  John  Liggins  and  C.  M.  Williams, 
then  of  the  China  mission,  to  commence  at  Nagasaki. 

Before  these  brethren  received  the  intelligence  of  their 
appointment,  one  of  them,  Mr.  Liggins,  acting  under  medical 
advice,  was  already  at  Nagasaki,  to  try  what  reinvigorating 
power  there  might  be  in  the  climate  of  that  place.  He 
arrived  there  May  2d,  1859,  two  months  before  the  time 
when,  by  treaty  stipulations,  he  would  be  allowed  to  take 
up  his  residence  in  the  city ; but,  assisted  by  Mr.  Walsh, 
United  States  consul,  and  promising  to  instruct  a class  of 
Government  interpreter’s  who  were  anxious  to  learn  English, 
he  soon  succeeded  in  getting  permission  to  remain,  and  in 
obtaining  part  of  a good  house,  in  a beautiful  situation.  Mr. 
Williams  joined  him  in  July.  Thus  was  commenced  “ the 
first  Protestant  mission  actually  established  in  that  empire.” 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  the  encouragement  was  not 
likely  to  be  all  that  had  been  hoped.  There  had  been  reac- 
tion at  Yedo  against  the  liberal  measures,  with  degradation 
of  the  ministry  and  the  appointment  of  those  in  favor  of  the 
old,  exclusive  policy.  The  prohibitory  edict  against  Chris- 
tianity remained  unrepealed.  Mr.  Harris  believed  it  would 
never  be  enforced,  but  still  thought  it  best  for  missionaries 
to  confine  themselves  to  the  sale  of  books,  as  the  only  safe 
ground.  The  Annual  Report  of  the  Foreign  Committee  for 
1860  says  : “The  experience  of  the  past  year  has  deepened 
the  impression  expressed  in  1859,  touching  the  necessity  of 
extreme  cavrtion  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  in  Japan,” 
and  in  October  of  that  year,  the  F oreign  Committee  again 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS. 


9 


reported,  tliat  they  were  not  advised  of  any  freer  opportu- 
nity for  direct  missionary  effort  than  when  the  former  Report 
M'as  made.  The  missionaries  could,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Lig- 
gins,  procure  native  books  and  teachers,  and  acquii’e  the  lan- 
guage ; prepare  philological  works  to  facilitate  its  acquisition 
by  others  ; dispose,  by  sale,  of  many  historical,  geographical, 
and  scientific  works,  prepared  by  Protestant  missionaries  ; 
sell  the  Scriptures  and  religious  books  and  tracts  in  the 
Chinese  language,  understood  by  every  educated  Japanese  ; 
answer  the  inquiries  of  persons  coming  for  such  books  to 
their  own  houses,  and  thus  explain  to  many  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  and  urge  its  claims  upon  them  ; and  by  their 
Christian  walk  and  conversation,  by  kindness  and  benevo- 
lence, weaken  and  dispel  prejudice. 

Mr.  Williams  wrote,  June  18,  18G1 : “ There  is  no  pi’oper 

missionary  work  to  report It  may  appear  singular  that 

so  little  has  been  accomplished ; but  the  jaeculiar  difficulties 
of  our  situation,  — the  antecedents  of  Christianity  in  Japan, 
the  jealousy  of  government,  the  sweeping  clause  in  the  treaty, 
that  ‘ Americans  shall  not  do  anything  calculated  to  excite 
religious  animosity,’  the  ramifications  of  the  system  of  espion- 
age, reaching  everywhere,  alike  the  cottage  of  the  poor,  and 
the  ‘ forbidden  inclosure’  of  the  ‘ Son  of  Heaven,’  — should 
all  be  kept  in  mind.  When  these  things  are  fully  compre- 
hended, it  will  be  seen  that  great  caution  is  necessary.  A 
false  step  may  be  fatal,  and  surround  us  with  such  a host  of 
spies,  that  intercourse  with  the  people  will  be  virtually  cut 
off.  Though  the  practice  of  trampling  on  religious  emblems 
is  abolished,  still  the  law  against  Christianity  is  unrepealed. 
....  The  means  used  by  the  authorities  to  prevent  converts 
to  Christianity  being  made,  are  most  thorough,  and  if  strictly 

observed  would  be  most  effectual Each  individual  is 

compelled  to  sign  a paper  once  a year,  declaring  that  he  or 
she  is  not  a Christian,  also  specifying  the  sect  of  Buddhists 

to  which  he  belongs 'J^hey  offer  large  rewards  to  all 

^vho  inform  of  those  who  become  Christians.” 


10 


.JA/>AX. 


In  such  circumstances  not  much  progress  was  made,  and 
after  a few  years  the  work  of  tliis  church  in  Japan,  which 
had  been  connected  with  its  China  missions,  seems  to  have 
died  out  or  been  discontinued.  In  his  Report  of  1868,  the 
Bishop  to  China  says  : “ It  is  heart-sickening  to  report  that 
our  Church  has  not  a single  representative  ” in  Japan.  Two 
missionaries,  since  appointed,  are  supposed  to  have  sailed 
from  San  Francisco  for  that  field  in  December,  1872. 

As  early  as  1855,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbj'terian  Church  in  the  United  States  requested  one  of 
its  missionaries  in  China  to  visit  Japan  and  make  inquiries, 
preparatory  to  sending  forth  laborers  to  this  “ long  inacces- 
sible field.”  In  1859,  the  door  seeming  to  be  open,  and 
some  candidates  for  the  missionary  work  having  expressed 
a desire  to  be  sent  to  that  land,  it  was  resolved  to  commence 
a mission.  Dr.  James  C.  Hepburn  and  wife,  formerly  mis- 
sionaries in  China,  but  then  in  the  United  States,  were  at 
their  own  request  appointed  to  the  work,  as  were  also  Rev. 
John  L.  Nevius  and  wife,  then  of  the  Ningpo  mission.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Hepburn  sailed  from  New  York  for  Shanghai  on 
the  24th  of  April,  and  from  Shanghai  for  Kanagawa,  Octo- 
ber 1.  In  January,  1873,  five  missionaries  were  connected 
with  the  Japan  mission  of  the  Presbyterian  Board,  and  it 
was  then  stated  that  others,  under  appointment,  would  sail  in 
a few  months  for  that  field. 

The  Board  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  (Dutch)  Church 
in  the  United  States,  about  the  close  of  1858,  were  moved 
to  efforts  in  Japan,  (1)  by  letters  from  Christian  brethren 
of  several  denominations  then  in  that  empire,  urging  the 
work  upon  them  especially,  as  those  who  could  avail  them- 
selves of  the  Dutch  language,  and  (2)  by  an  almost  simul- 
taneous consecration  of  means,  by  brethren  of  the  South 
Church  in  New  York,  for  missionary  effort  there.  One  of 
bhe  pastors  in  Central  New  York  also  solicited  a missionary 
appointment  to  that  field.  The  Board,  therefore,  deemed 
it  duty  to  attempt  a new  mission  in  .Japan  ; and  Rev.  S.  R. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS.  11 


Brown,  of  Owasco,  was  appointed  as  a missionary.  A 
young  Holland  brother,  just  completing  his  theological 
studies,  and  a medical  missionary,  were  soon  secured  as  his 
associates.  The  company  sailed  from  New  York,  May  7, 
1859,  consisting  of  Rev.  S.  R.  Brown,  Rev.  G.  F.  Verbeck, 
and  Dr.  D.  Simmons,  with  their  wives,  and  Miss  Julia 
Brown.  It  was  understood  that  their  work  must  be  for  a 
time,  perhaps  a considerable  time,  preparatory ; and  that 
“ the  churches  should  exercise  all  patience  in  looking  for 
results.”  This  Board  had,  at  the  close  of  its  last  year,  fire 
male  laborers  in  that  field ; but  the  brethren  of  this  mission 
have  been  largely  engaged  in  educational  work,  receiving 
much  of  their  support  from  the  Japanese  Government. 

- The  English  Church  Missionary  Society  reports  two  mis- 
sionaries in  that  empire,  and  by  some  other  societies  and 
individuals,  evangelistic  work  has  been  or  is  about  to  be 
attempted  there. 

It  was  certainly  to  be  expected,  that  the  Papal  Church 
would  not  be  unmindful  of  the  renewed  opening  of  a land 
from  which  its  adherents  were  banished  more  than  200 
years  ago,  and  in  January,  1862,  religious  services  were 
commenced  in  a new  Roman  Catholic  church  at  Yoko- 
hama, — “a  neat  and  conspicuous  building  of  white  stucco,” 
erected  on  ground  given  for  the  purpose  by  the  French 
minister.  Thus  the  Romanists  were  in  advance  of  any 
Protestant  denomination  in  the  completion  of  a church 
building  in  Japan.  The  last  Report  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  gives  one 
bishop  and  fourteen  “ missioners  ” as  their  force  in  Japan. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  held  at 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  in  1869,  the  Board  fully  and  heartily  ap- 
proved of  the  proposal  submitted  by  the  Prudential  Com- 
mittee to  establish  a mission  in  Japan,  and  on  the  fourth  of 
the  next  month  (November,  1869),  Rev.  David  Crosby 
Greene,  son  of  a former  secretary  of  the  Board,  sailed 
from  San  Francisco  with  his  wife,  to  commence  the  mis- 


12 


JAPAN. 


sion.  They  reached  Yokohama  on  the  30th  of  the  same 
month.  After  spending  a few  months  at  Yedo,  and,  after 
consultation  with  Mr.  Blodget,  of  the  North  China  mission, 
and  others,  Mr.  Greene  fixed  upon  Kobe,  a town  of  some 
65,000  inhabitants,  about  twenty  miles  from  Osaka,  350 
miles  from  Yedo,  on  a bay  of  the  inland  sea  in  the  central 
portion  of  the  island  of  Niphon,  as  the  best  place  for  the 
first  station  of  the  mission,  and  he  was  soon  established 
there.  After  something  more  than  a year,  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
O.  H.  Gulick  joined  him,  arriving  at  Kobe  March  3.  Rev. 
J.  D.  Davis  and  wife  arrived  on  the  first  of  December  fol- 
lowing, Dr.  J.  C.  Berry  and  wife  on  the  27th  of  May,  1872, 
and  Rev.  M.  L.  Gordon,  M.  D.,  and  his  wife,  in  October, 
1872.  A new  station  was  taken  at  Osaka,  in  the  summer 
of  1872,  by  Mr.  Gulick,  where  Mr.  Gordon  joined  him. 
The  other  brethren  are  still  at  Kobe.  Two  ladies.  Misses 
Dudley  and  Talcott,  sailed  from  San  Francisco  on  the  1st 
of  March,  1873,  to  join  the  mission. 

Recent  Changes. 

It  is  hardly  needful  to  dwell  upon  the  changes  which 
have  been  going  forward  in  Japan  while  missionary  socie- 
ties have  thus  been  sending  laborers  there,  and  making  some 
preparation  for  the  great  work  to  which  it  has  seemed  so 
probable  that  the  Christian  Church  must  soon  be  called. 
These  changes  have  attracted  much  attention  from  the 
whole  civilized  world,  and  will  be,  perhaps,  sufficiently  in- 
dicated here  by  extracts  from  an  article  published  a few 
months  since  in  the  “ Missionary  Record  ” of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  and  a communication  from 
Mr.  Davis,  of  the  Board’s  mission,  written  at  the  close  of 
his  first  year  in  Japan.  The  article  in  the  “ Record”  states  : 

“ Under  various  names,  two  Emperors,  the  one  called  the 
Tycoon  and  the  other  the  Mikado,  the  former  a military 
and  secular  sovereign,  the  latter  a spiritual  governor,  tech- 
nically supreme,  have  hitherto  ruled  the  Empire  of  Japan, 


RKCENT  CHANGES. 


13 


with  its  thirty-one  millions  of  population,  scattered  over  its 
three  principal  and  its  numberless  smaller  islands.  These 
islands  used  to  be  divided  into  sixty-eight  provinces,  over 
every  one  of  which  a prince,  under  the  name  of  Daimio,  or 
Siomio  was  set  as  ruler,  under  the  two  Emperors,  whose  re- 
lation to  one  another  we  shall,  in  the  course  of  this  article, 
endeavor  to  explain. 

“The  recent  revolution  has  been  accomplished  by  the 
deposition  of  the  Tycoon,  and  the  assumption  of  his  pre- 
rogatives by  the  Mikado,  who  has  been,  for  four  or  five 
years,  the  sole  Emperor  of  Japan.  This  abolition  of  the 
office  of  Tycoon  has  also  completely  changed  the  relation 
of  the  Daimios,  and  other  local  rulers,  to  the  government 
and  to  the  people.  Eormerly  these  princes  had  to  reside  in 
the  city  of  Yedo  for  about  half  of  their  time,  with  their 
families,  as  hostages,  under  the  eye  of  the  Tycoon,  who 
had  the  power  to  depose  them,  and  who,  through  his  council 
of  state,  surrounded  them  with  an  atmosphere  of  constant 
espionage.  These  circumstances  lessen  our  surprise  that  the 
aristocracy  of  Japan  was,  to  a large  extent,  a consenting 
party  to  the  revolution  which  has  sent  the  Tycoon  to  vir- 
tual and  perpetual  banishment,  and  has  left  the  Mikado  to 
rule  VTithout  a rival,  and  to  reconstruct  the  government. 

“The  present  Japanese  dynasty,  that  of  the  Mikado, 
stretches  so  far  back  into  the  past  as  to  dwarf  the  antiquity 
of  the  oldest  royal  families  of  Europe.  We  are  not  aware 
that  any  man  can  call  in  question  the  unparalleled  claim  of 
the  present  Emperor,  to  a pedigree  stretching  back  to  the 
sixth  century  before  Christ.  This  Emperor  has  witnessed 
the  most  remarkable  revolution  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
empire  since  his  family  began  to  reign,  twenty-four  centu- 
ries ago.  He  is  a young  man  of  twenty-four  years  of  age. 
His  father  and  predecessor  died  on  the  3d  of  February, 
1867,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  The  present 
Emperor  was  then  a boy  of  seventeen ; and  within  little 
more  than  a year  of  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  May  1 6, 


14 


JAPAN. 


18G8,  tlie  turning-point  of  a new  regime,  the  hinge  of  Jap- 
anese history,  was  reached,  unconsciously  on  his  part  and 
that  of  his  fellow-countrymen.  He  has  indeed  manifested 
no  small  degree  of  vigor  and  intelligence,  inasmuch  as  he 
has  risen  to  his  jDOsition  in  spite  of  his  youth  and  the  in- 
credible bondage  of  those  associations  and  traditions  by 
which  he  was  surrounded,  and  by  which  he  was  liable  to  be 
enslaved.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  imagined  for  a moment 
that  he,  or  his  immediate  advisers,  contemplated  the  marvel- 
ous consequences  which  have  just  began  to  develop  them- 
selves, in  changing  the  relations,  the  customs  and  habits,  as 
well  as  the  beliefs  of  that  singular  people.  The  change  was 
not  a human  policy,  but  a divine  and  resistless  providence. 

“ The  present  revolution  must  necessarily  awaken  relig- 
ious inquiry,  inasmuch  as  the  Mikado,  who  was  for  ages 
shrouded  in  mystery,  and  viewed  as  an  invisible  divinity, 
has  found  it  necessary  to  come  forth  into  the  arena  of  ac- 
tion, and  take  his  place  not  only  over  his  subjects,  but  side 
by  side  with  his  fellow-mortals.  The  recent  revolution  of 
18G8  was  the  overthrow  of  a previous  revolution,  which 
took  place  in  the  year  1142.  Previous  to  that  date,  the 
INIikados  of  Japan  were  the  only  sovereigns  of  the  empire. 
Their  sovereignty,  however,  was  of  a spii’itual  kind.  It 
made  its  appeal  to  the  imagination,  and  based  itself  on  sen- 
timents of  religion.  To  make  use  of  an  analogy,  well  un- 
derstood in  Europe,  the  Mikado  was,  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  more  a pope  than  a king.  He  shrouded 
himself  in  mystery  ; lived  invisible  in  an  immense  palace  in 
the  city  of  Kioto,  surrounded  by  a little  army  of  guards, 
entrenched  behind  a bulwark  of  superstition,  more  potent 
for  his  defense  than  all  his  soldiers.  ^ 

“ The  Mikado  himself  is  believed  to  be  the  lineal  descend- 
ant of  the  last  of  four  gods  who  succeeded  the  goddess 
Ten-sio-dai-zin,  believed  to  be  the  daughter  of  the  god  who 
created  the  world.  Of  this  divine  race  of  sovereigns  who 
have  ruled  Japan,  the  present  Mikado  is  the  122d.  When 


RECJiyT  CHANGES. 


15 


the  76th  in  this  long  succession  was  on  the  throne  in  his 
secret  place  of  thunder,  that  is,  in  the  year  1141,  disturb- 
ances arose  which  needed  to  be  Suppressed  by  the  sword. 
The  successful  soldier,  who  became  the  general  of  the  army 
which  put  down  the  insurrection,  used  his  position  as  gen- 
eralissimos have  often  done,  to  lift  himself  to  power.  This 
he  did  by  severing  the  temporal  from  the  spiritual  preroga- 
tive, leaving  the  Mikado  with  his  spiritual  supremacy  in  his 
sacred  city  and  palace,  wrapped  up  in  the  power  of  his  long 
and  celestial  pedigree,  but  stripped  of  all  immediate  exer- 
cise of  temporal  authority.  Thus  the  power  of  the  Mikado 
was  divided  between  himself  and  the  military  emperor.  For 
716  years,  up  to  the  recent  revolution  in  1868,  Japan  had 
two  Emperors,  one  visible  and  the  other  invisible,  with  cer- 
tain acknowledged  forms  of  subjection  on  the  part  of  the 
temporal  to  the  spiritual  ruler. 

“ It  would  be  an  interesting  but  endless  process  of  anat- 
omy, to  pursue  into  its  details  the  complex  constitution  of 
this  old  government,  which  has  worked  longer  than  any 
other  in  human  history,  without  more  than  one  great  change 
deserving  the  name  of  revolution.  We  refer  to  the  revolu- 
tion set  up  in  1142,  and  upset  in  1868.  The  former  change 
set  the  Tycoon  on  a throne  nearly  as  high  as  that  of  the 
Mikado  ; the  latter  laid  prostrate  the  Tycoon  and  put  the 
Mikado  on  a solitary  throne,  by  restoring  that  limb  of  his 
prerogative  which  was  broken  in  the  twelfth  century. 

“ We  cannot  enter  in  this  article  into  the  growth  of  sen- 
timent which,  by  gradually  advancing  among  the  ruling 
class,  prepared  the  way  for  the  abolition  of  the  Tycoon’s 
power.  The  facts,  however,  must  be  noted,  as  essential  to 
the  briefest  narrative,  that  the  old  feudal  aristocracy  of 
Daimios  and  Siomios  (the  higher  and  lower  grades  of  pro- 
vincial governors)  have  been  to  a large  extent  superseded, 
and  that  an  imperial  parliament  is  on  the  eve  of  being 
elected,  which  will  ere  long,  if  the  experiment  succeed,  exalt 
the  mass  of  the  people  from  a position  of  serfdom  to  the 


It) 


JAP  AX. 


exercise  of  political  rights ; and  will  turn  their  mechanical 
education,  in  tlie  arts  of  reading  and  writing,  into  mental 
and  moral  discipline,  preparing  them  for  a religious  revolu- 
tion, infinitely  more  benign  than  any  political  change  can 
ever  help  them  to  conceive. 

“ If  we  enter  into  Japan  now,  when  the  people  call  us  to 
‘come  over  and  help  them,’  when  Providence  opens  the 
way,  and  when  the  Lord  of  missions  bids  us  go,  there  are 
the  best  of  reasons  why  we  should  be  hopeful  of  success 
among  the  people.  Their  repugnance  to  foreigners,  too 
largely  founded  on  their  fear  of  Jesuitical  treachery  and 
mercantile  rapacity,  will  quickly  yield  to  the  more  genuine 
and  just  procedure  of  Americans  and  Europeans,  promot- 
ing trade  and  propagating  Christianity.  The  unscrupulous 
cupidity  of  Portuguese  and  Dutch  traders,  and  the  political 
ambition  and  tortuous  policy  of  Jesuits,  under  the  guise  of 
Christianity,  cannot  repeat  themselves. 

“ The  call  to  enter  Japan  is  new  and  almost  startling.  If 
it  be  a duty  to  ask  for  the  opening  of  wide  and  effectual 
doors  into  great  populations  heretofore  inaccessible,  and  if 
the  prayer  be  answered,  the  Church  has  no  choice  but  to 
enter  in  at  these  doors,  so  long  as  they  stand  open.  The 
Japanese  people  are  receptive  and  impressible.  Their  am- 
bassadors are  visiting  the  Western  nations  in  quest  of  truth 
in  every  form.  Our  commerce  has  no  difficulty  in  interpret- 
ing these  things  as  a call  to  go.  Is  Christianity  alone  to  be 
timid  and  calculating,  lest  it  should  land  prematurely  in 
that  field  ? ” 

Mr.  Davis  wrote  from  Kobe,  December  23,  1873 : — 

“We  have  been  in  Japan  a year,  having  arrived  here 
December  1,  1871.  It  has  been  a year  of  mighty  changes 
in  this  empire  ; I desire  to  group  a few  of  them  together, 
and  begin  with  those  of  which  we  have  heard  since  leaving 
America,  November  1,  of  last  year  : — 

“ The  Daipiios  are  deprived  of  their  power  and  nine  tenths 


RECENT  CHANGES. 


17 


of  their  revenue.  The  Samurai,  the  retainers  of  the  Dai- 
mios,  are  thrown  back  upon  their  own  resources  for  support. 
The  Yetas,  who  have  heretofore  been  considered  something 
less  than  human,  have  had  their  disabilities  removed,  and 
are  citizens. 

“ The  first  line  of  railroad  has  been  most  successfully 
opened,  and  a line  of  telegraph  is  finished  through  the 
length  of  the  empire,  putting  it  in  the  electric  circuit  of  the 
world.  The  old  restriction  against  the  export  of  rice  is 
removed,  and  twelve  vessels  are  now  in  our  bay,  loading  for 
America  and  Europe. 

“ The  promiscuous  use,  by  both  sexes,  of  the  public  baths, 
has  been  prohibited  ; also  the  printing  and  sale  of  obscene 
books  and  pictures.  The  disgusting  obscenity  connected 
with  some  of  the  religious  festivals  is  also  prohibited,  and 
following  close  upon  these  prohibitions  comes  the  abolition 
of  a system  by  which  fathers  and  relatives  sold  young  girls 
for  a term  of  years,  or  for  life,  for  the  vilest  purposes,  and 
thus  fed  and  kept  up  a most  gigantic  system  of  licentious- 
ness, which  has  poisoned  both  the  bodies  and  souls  of  the 
masses  in  this  empire.  This  vast  army  of  unfortunates  are 
released  from  their  contracts,  and  no  more  such  contracts 
are  to  be  made  in  the  future. 

“ A truly  gigantic  system  of  education  is  planned,  and  the 
machinery  to  work  it  is  preparing.  The  empire  is  to  be 
divided  into  eight  grand  divisions,  in  each  of  which  there 
are  to  be  a university  and  thirty-two  middle  schools.  Then 
there  are  to  be  in  the  empire  210  academies,  and  53,760 
common  schools.  From  the  middle  schools  and  academies 
there  are  to  be  sent  abroad  for  education,  each  year,  180 
young  men. 

“ Thousands  of  volumes  of  English  text-books  have  been 
imported,  and  are  found  for  sale  in  all  the  bookstores  in  the 
great  cities.  Translations  have  also  been  made,  by  the 
Japanese  themselves,  of  many  text-books,  in  Geography, 
Arithmetic,  Philosophy,  and  even  of  the  higher  Mathemat- 
2 


18 


JAPAN. 


ics.  The  old  custom  of  shaving  the  crown  of  the  head  is 
forbidden,  and  men  are  requested  to  wear  their  hair  in  for- 
eign style. 

“ And  now,  to  close  the  year,  comes  a list  of  changes,  great 
and  sudden  enough  to  startle  the  sleep  of  a Rip  Van  Win- 
kle. Japan  has  heretofore  had  a variable  year,  using  the 
lunar  months ; but  with  January  1,  1873,  she  is  to  start 
even  with  the  world,  and  keep  with  her  hereafter.  The 
numerous  and  ancient  holidays  of  the  empire,  on  which  they 
worshipped  at  their  temples  and  shrines,  are  all  abolished, 
except  New  Year’s  day,  and  the  birthday  of  the  Mikado, 
and  Sunday  is  substituted  for  them.  Officials  are  all  to 
dress  in  foreign  uniform,  all  the  old  laws  are  to  be  revised 
and  printed  in  a foreign  language,  and  all  new  ones  are  to 
be  printed  in  the  official  daily  newspaper  of  the  capital. 

“ This  array  of  changes  does  not  look  much  like  Japan’s 
going  back.  She  cannot  go  back.  You  might  as  well  try 
to  stop  an  ocean  current  with  tissue  paper  as  to  stop  Japan 
now. 

“ But  how  is  it  morally,  spiritually  ? The  department  of 
religion,  which  since  the  accession  of  the  Mikado,  four  years 
ago,  has  had  the  especial  care  of  the  Shintoo  religion,  and 
has  been  next  to  the  department  of  state  in  impor- 
tance, is  abolished,  and  the  department  of  religion  is  merged 
with  that  of  education ; and  we  see,  in  many  of  the  other 
changes  which  have  been  made,  those  which  should  properly 
precede  a decree  of  religious  toleration,  for  which  the  gov- 
ernment seems  to  be  preparing.  The  first  Christian  Church 
has  been  organized,  a church  composed  of  nearly  thirty 
young  men  of  intelligence,  many  of  whom  bid  fair  to  become 
preachers  of  the  Word.  The  first  Christian  convention  has 
been  held,  a committee  appointed  to  translate  the  Bible,  and 
a union  basis  agreed  upon  for  native  work.  The  magnificent 
Bible,  sent  out  by  the  Bible  Society,  and  which  has  waited 
here  thirteen  years  for  a favorable  opportunity,  has  been 
presented  to  the  Mikado.  The  first  translations  of  parts  of 


RECENT  CHANGES. 


19 


the  Bible  have  been  printed  and  are  being  circulated. 
There  is,  especially  among  the  higher  classes,  a desire  to 
examine  the  Bible,  and  to  know  about  Christianity ; a de- 
sire which  must  be  speedily  met  either  in  Christianity  or  in 
infidelity.” 

Still  another  notable  step  in  the  line  of  progress  has  been 
announced  more  recently.  In  February,  1873,  a number 
of  time-honored  edicts  wei’e  removed  from  the  edict-boards 
throughout  the  empire,  and  among  these  was  the  edict  for- 
bidding the  adoption  or  profession  of  Christianity  by  the 
natives.  No  actual  announcement  of  toleration  was  made, 
but  in  this  quiet  way  the  government  is  understood  to  have 
indicated  its  departure  from  the  former  proscriptive  policy 
towards  the  Christian  religion. 

Thus  is  Japan  open,  at  last,  to  the  gospel  of  Christ ; and 
a civilized  race,  numbering  its  tens  of  millions,  remarkable 
for  its  intelligence  and  readiness  to  accept  foreign  ideas, 
seems  ready  to  receive  the  beneficent  influence  of  Christian 
ti’uth. 


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